The bid included $4.8 million in cash to pay off creditors and a $39.5 million line of credit that White Oak says Northern Beef owes it. Court records show Northern Beef had $138.8 million in liabilities and just $79.3 million in assets. Businessman Oshik Song and 69 other South Korean investors owned 41 percent of Northern Beef Packers. The investors paid at least $500,000 under the federal EB-5 program that encourages foreign investment in exchange for qualifications to secure permanent residency. Federal investigators now are scrutinizing the finances behind the beef processor and the EB-5 program.

Green Bay, Wis.-based American Foods Group submitted the only other bid for the processor. American Foods Group made the minimum bid of $12.75 million, which qualified the company to participate in the auction held at the US Bankruptcy Court in Sioux Falls.